Top opening carton



May 26, 1970 c. B. PIERCE TOP OPENING CARTON Filed May 8, 1968 5 P 2; M. Q A llllml Allllll ...III In I l I l o 6 2 M: E .3 5 2 2 I n" m 3 n D 7 5 @G:& Q 4 4 l 7: mi 2 .1 W 2 r F l I I I I; k| I I l 1 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,514,032 TOP OPENING CARTON Clarke B. Pierce, Milpitas, Calif., assignor to The Mead Corporation Filed May 8, 1968, Ser. No. 727,444 Int. Cl. B65d /02, 5/22, 5/54 US. Cl. 22937 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A folding box of the so-called trunk style having bottom, front, rear and lid panels is provided at each end with a bottom end panel foldably joined to an end edge of the bottom panel, a lid end panel foldably joined to the adjacent end of the lid panel, a front end panel foldably joined to the associated end of the front panel, a rear end panel foldably joined to the associated end of the rear end panel and normally disposed in overlapped face contacting relation with the adjacent one ofsaid front end panels, a lid front panel foldably joined to the front edge of the lid panel, an end flap foldably joined to each end of the lid front panel and folded into fiat face contacting relation with the associated front end panel, each end flap being configured along its lower edge so as to protrude below the bottom edge of the associated lid end panel and so as to extend underneath the upper edge of the associated bottom end panel, the lid and bottom end panels being disposed in the same plane and with their adjacent edges in close proximity to each other. A method of sealing the ends of the carton is employed wherein all end panels and flaps are closed initially and wherein certain panels are then opened and glued closed while the carton is moved continuously.

Carton sealing machnies of the type disclosed, for example, in US. patent application Ser. No. 601,301 filed Dec. 13, 1966 are arranged to close the ends of a folding box by applying glue and then pressure to a pair of end panels in a predetermined sequence. During the application of glue for sealing one end panel, for example, it is necessary that the panel or panels to which an application of glue is to be made by securely held in a desired position so that the desired application of glue may be made. Furthermore, in folding boxes it is generally desirable particularly in trunk style cartons to provide a structure in which there are no outwardly extending protrusions and in which the exterior panels are disposed in the same plane so that no abutment edges are presented which might hang up against adjacent cartons or other objects.

According to this invention, the end panels associated with the lid of a trunk style carton are disposed in the same plane as the outer end panels of the body portion of the carton and sequential gluing of the end panels is accommodated by constructing an end flap so that the lower edge thereof protrudes downwardly sufficiently to underlie at least partially the upper edge of the outer end panel of the body portion of the carton. This downwardly protruding flap underlies and bridges the adjacent edges of a pair of outer coplanar end panels so that an improved sealing method is made possible in which the coplanar panels are opened, glued and sealed sequentially while the flap is held closed continuously first by one coplanar panel and then by the other.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of a blank constructed accordingv to this invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one end of a carton formed during the process of its formation "Ice from the blank shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and which shows a subsequent stage during the formation of the carton; FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 and depicts the end structure of a carton during a stage of folding and gluing subsequent to that depicted in FIG. 3; and in which FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a completely formed and set up carton constructed according to this invention.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a bottom panel of a carton such as an ice cream carton. The numeral 2 designates the front panel of the carton which is foldably joined to the bottom panel thereof along fold line 3. A rear panel 4 is foldably joined to bottom panel 1 along fold line 5 and lid panel 6 is foldably joined to the top edge of rear panel 4 along fold line 7. A lid front panel 8 is foldably joined to the front edge of lid panel 6 along fold line 9 and a tear strip generally designated by the numeral 10 is formed in the lid front panel 8 in a manner well known in the art.

The ends of the carton are identical and comprise bottom end panels 11 and 12 which are foldably joined to bottom panel 1 along fold lines 13 and 14 respectively. Front end panels 15 and 16 are foldably joined to front panel 2 along fold lines 17 and 18 respectively while rear end panels 19 and 20 are foldably joined to rear panel 4 along fold lines 21 and 22 respectively.

The lid of the carton comprises lid end panels 23 and 24 which are foldably joined to lid panel 6 along fold lines 25 and 26 respectively and end fiaps 27 and 28 which are foldably joined along fold lines 29 and 30 respectively to the end edges of lid front panel 8.

In order to form the carton, a tubular structure is first formed by making an application of glue to lid front panel 8 as indicated by stippling at 31. Thereafter front panel 2 is folded upwardly and forwardly along the fold line 3 to occupy a position of flat face contacting relation with the bottom panel 1. Following this folding operation, lid panel 6 is folded up and forwardly along fold line 7 so that the stippled areas 31 of lid front panel 8 come into contact with the upper edge of front wall 2. Following this folding and gluing operation, the carton is formed into a tubular structure such as is generally indicated in FIG. 2.

Ordinarily one end of the carton is closed but not glued and the carton is arranged to rest on the closed end while the other end remains open. Thereafter the contents such as ice cream may be loaded into the carton through the upper open end. The upper end of the carton is then closed and carton and contents proceed to the end sealing operation during which both ends are sealed.

In order to close one end of the carton, front end panel 16 is first folded into the closed position astride the end of the carton and rear end panel 20 is thereafter folded into overlapped face contacting relation with front end panel 16 as is best shown in FIG. 3. Following the overlapping of front and rear end panels 16 and 20 as shown in FIG. 3, the end flap 28 is folded into fiat face contacting relation with the front end panel 16 following which folding operation lid end panel 24 and bottom end panel 12 are folded into flat face contacting relation with the panels 16, 20 and 28 so that the carton then appears as depicted in FIG. 5. Of course the procedure for closing the other end is identical.

While it is not particularly significant which coplanar p nel 12 or 24 is folded outwardly before the other panel in order to accommodate gluing, it ordinarily is preferable to fold the bottom end panel 12 outwardly while the lid end panel 24 is held in fiat face contacting relation with the remaining panels. During this operation, an application of glue is made to the outside surface of front end panel 16 as indicated by the dotted and stippled areas designated by the numerals 32 and 33 and a similar application of glue is made to the outside surface of rear end panel 20 as indicated by the dotted and stippled areas 34 and 35. Thereafter panel 12 is pressed into firm engagement with the panels 16 and 20 and is held in that position by the glue. When closed, panel 12 holds flap 28 in the correct position for a subsequent gluing and sealing operation. Instead of applying glue to panels 16 and 20, it could as well be applied to the inside surface of panel 12 as is obvious.

Since the end flap 28 cannot be conveniently glued to the front end panel 16 due to interference with later opening of the carton, the end flap 28 must be held in its position of face contacting relationship with the front end panel 16 by other means. Thus according to a feature of this invention, the lower edge 36 of end flap 28 is arranged so as to protrude downwardly sufiiciently to underlie the upper edge 37 of bottom end panel 12. Thus after end panel 12 is folded upwardly into the position shown in FIG. 4 end flap 28 is held in the proper position by the upper edge 37 of bottom end panel 12. Thus with the parts in the position depicted in FIG. 4 an application of glue is made to the outside surface of end flap 28 as indicated by the dotted and stippled area 38 and a similar spot of glue is applied to the upper part of rear end panel 20 as indicated at 39. Instead of applying glue to the outside surfaces of flap 28 and of rear end panel 20, an application of glue could be made to the inside surface of coplanar lid end panel 24 as is obvious and so as to form a bond between panel 24 and flap 28 and panel 20. Thereafter the lid end panel 24 is folded downwardly to occupy the position depicted in FIG. and the carton is complete.

From FIG. 5 it is apparent that the exposed end structure of the carton comprising coplanar lid end panel 24 and bottom end panel 12 forms a flush arrangement which is both attractive in appearance and which due to the flush coplanar relationship is not likely to result in outwardly protruding edges which might hang up and interfere with adjacent objects.

Furthermore, the fact that downwardly protruding part 36 is provided for the end tab 28 results in the application of uniform pressure along the entire top edge 37 of bottom end panel 12 during the sealing operation so that a more precise sturdy and uniform structure results. For this reason it is not necessary to provide embossed areas on panel 16 in the areas of glue spots 32 and 33 so as to compensate for the overlapping relationship between front end panel 16 and rear end panel 20.

Although shown resting on its bottom panel in FIGS. 2-5, the carton ordinarily is disposed to rest on one end during sealing. Thus it is desirable though not necessary to utilize the effect of gravity in gluing the various panels and flaps and to this end glue is ordinarily applied at the upper end of the carton on the outside surfaces of 4 the panels 16 and 20 and the flap 28 and at the. lower end of the carton on the inside surfaces of coplanar panels 12 and 24.

While a particular embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, the invention is not limited thereto and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A carton comprising a bottom panel, front and rear panels foldably joined to the front and rear edges respectively of said bottom panel, a lid panel foldably joined to the edge of said rear panel remote from said bottom panel, a lid front panel foldably joined to the edge of said lid panel remote from said rear panel and secured to said front panel along an edge of said lid front panel remote from said lid panel, an end flap foldably joined to each end of said lid front panel, a bottom end panel foldably joined to each end of said bottom panel, a lid end panel folda'bly joined to each end of said lid panel, a front end panel foldably joined to each end of saidfront panel, a rear end panel foldably joined to each end of said rear panel and normally disposed in overlapped face contacting relation with the adjacent one of said front end panels, each end flap being folded into flat face contacting relation with the associated one of said front end panels and being configured and arranged to protrude below the lower edge of the associated one of said lid end panels, means securing each of said lid end panels to the associated end flap, each bottom end panel being folded into fiat face contacting relation to the associated front and rear end panels, and the upper edge of each bottom end panel being disposed immediately below and in the same plane as the lower edge of the associated lid end panel, and means securing each of said bottom end panels to the associated front and rear end panels.

2. A carton according to claim 1 wherein said lid end panels are secured to said end flaps by a permanent glue bond and to said rear end panels by a severable glue bond.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,040,957 6/ 1962 Meyers 22937 3,315,870 4/ 1967 Barnes 22937 3,379,361 4/ 1968" Barnes 299-33 3,410,476 11/1968 Buttery.

DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 229-33, 51 

